Amazon’s advertising business grew 83% year-over-year in the second quarter, generating close to $8 billion in ad sales, the company reported in its latest financial results on Thursday.
Amazon announced earnings that included the advertising side of its e-commerce empire, while total retail sales reached $113 billion, an increase of 27% year-over-year. Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing product, showed strong growth, too, reaching $14.8 billion in revenue, a 37% year-over-year increase.
However, Amazon’s sales revenue was lower than analysts expected. Forecasters predicted revenue would be closer to $115 billion. Some took that as a sign that Amazon faces stiffer competition for online wallets from Walmart, Target and others. Also, more people have started to shop in stores as COVID-19 restrictions eased in recent months.